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It wasn’t too long ago that the mixed martial arts world was feeling pretty gloomy about a Ronda Rousey comeback. Rumors that she wouldn’t be returning in November for the UFC’s big New York debut in Madison Square Gardens were confirmed as true, and several women in the UFC have questioned whether the former women’s bantamweight champion is anywhere near fighting shape.
But then Ronda’s boyfriend Travis Browne declared she was “physically and mentally doing great,” and now we have this Instagram photo from a fan’s chance encounter at a health food store that shows a svelte and smiling Ronda backing up his claims. There’s still no official word on when the UFC’s biggest superstar after Conor McGregor will return, but many insiders are looking hopefully towards the UFC’s big New Years Eve or Superbowl cards in January and February respectively.
Ronda Rousey’s comeback was set to be the biggest sports story of 2016, but instead we’ve spent the entire year with barely a peep from the face of women’s MMA. Plans have been voiced and then changed repeatedly by the UFC, with a UFC 200 return turning into a UFC 205 return to president Dana White saying we’d see her early in 2017. The media spectacle and fan adoration surrounding Rousey has subsided without her adding fuel to the fire with her trademark fiery opinions on everything from ‘Do Nothing B*tches’ to sexual lubricant. But we’re expecting the world to snap back to attention the second she announces her return to the Octagon. And based on this recent photo, that may be sooner rather than later.